Air-cooler or surfacer.



PATENTED OUT. 29; 1907.

I J. E. STARR.

AIROOOLER 0R SURPAGER.

AIPLIOATION FILED JUNE 28, 1906.

- INVENTOR" /,4 5.4

WITN ESSES ATTORNEYS} ST E Tors on.

JOHN E."STARB, OF NEW YORK, Y.-

f meter-ER on simraoen.

- Specification ofLei-tteris Patent. P stat octs'z'e', 1907; Application filed June 32.1906. suisilroiazesvz.

" To-allwkom'itmycmwern; I I

Be it known that I, Joan E. Sra1ziz, acitizen oi the United States, residing atNew York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a-cer- 5" tain new and "usefulAir-gooler or Surfacer'; and I do .herehy declare'the following to be a full, clear, and en act descriptionoi the-same, 'such as willlenableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and I use thesame.

.: '10 My invention relatestoimprovementsinapparatus for cooling air or other gas, and belongs to that class of such apparatus wherein a cobling liquid, such as. cold ,brine, is caused to pass in thin films, in contact with f'currents of air org'a s to'be cooled; In such apparatus his custoxnary toprovidea large number of plates or surfaces, suitablyspaced apart,- over which the'cooling liquid'is caused to fiow in thin films or sheets, the air or. gas being .drawn between such plete's or sheets and therefore being caused to pass in close proximityto the flowing films of cooling-liquid; Since .the problem insuch apparatus is, to spread the'coolingliquid over as 'greata surface area as possible, within given dimn--- sions, such apparatus are commonly called surfacers in the trade.

' 2 5 The obj ects of rny'invention are, to improve, simplify and cheapensuch air cooling orsurfacing apparatus, to

obtain a very large area of cooling surface Within given dimensions, to provide for the construction .of the sur facer from parts which are commonly found in the mar- '-'30 ket,'and with a minimum of work on these parts, generally to make the apparatus simple, compact, efli cient and inexpensive.

' I, will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying'drawings in which one form ofsnriacing-or air or gas cooling apparatus'embodying my invention is illustrated, and will then point out the novel features in claims. In the said drawings, Figure 1 showsdiagrammatically a central vertical'section of an air cooler-con-u 40 sizfucted in accordance with my inVe'ntiom FigIZ shows a; transverse horizontal section of the su'riacer thereof; Fig.3 isa view similar to Fig. 2, but" showing, an alternative construction; and Fig. 4 shows a transverse section of a further alternative construction. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 1 designates a tax. or chamber inclosing the plates or surfaces over which the cooling liquid flows, such surfaces or plates being supported upon a grating 2 within said t'ank.- '3 designates a space I within said chamber into which the cooling liquid.

59 falls from the said plates. 4 designates the series of plates over' which the cooling liquid flows; the same consistingof corrugated plates 5 and flat plates '6, altern'ately arranged and set close together, inclined slightly iron the vertical, Byeniploying corrugated and fiat forming aseparatorior freeing the air or drawn off plates alternately hanged,- aijs owa-gi devoid ste- 5'5 gether the use of specialspaci ng pieces, the corrhgated} plates in themselves forming spacing piecesfwhile' a'i:

the sametime substantially the entire surface of ,per sides of both the corrugated and'flat plates are muable :for the fiowof the liquid. Furthermore, the list. 60 1. and corrugated sheets may at all times be purchasedin.

the open market in practically anydesned siz e, and -re-' quire little or no work tobe done upon them to fit them for use. In practice, I prefer to bind the series of plates atogether by bolts 7 passingthrough the plates,-as shown, v6.5

and the punching offholes for the passage of bolts. I is-prac ticallytheoi ly work to be'do'ne upon the plates; buteveii thisis nothecessary, as it is quite'pract icable to place the plates-within the chamber 1 without fastens ing them together'. p z' 1 .f -8 designates a spraying pipeby which cooling liquid may be distributed'over the plateaandcausedto flowdowntlie same inlthin sheets or'filmsf theliqiiidlcolle'cting in.the space'3 .heneath .the giating '2 and* being.

drawnofi through pipe 9. When ani ample" supply of 75.

water of sufli'ciently low temperature isavailablefl may use ordinary cold water as thecooling liquid; but ordi'-. nsrily-I prefer to use brine or oth'ersuitable liquid refrigeratin'g agent, it being understood that in such case I pipes Sand 9 ere connected to anysuitable refrigerating 'PPW' through the channels between the plates by means of-an air circulatingv apparatus 10,:such, for. example, as an. ordinary-fanl. Suchair, being divided into a large humber of relativels small streams, is 8 5 brought into intimate contact with'the cooling liquid' flowing over the surfacesof the plates, and thus an efiicientexchange' of heat between the liquid and airjis jinsured. 'lldesi'gnates a gage glass for-sh owing the' level-of the liquid the space belo'w grating 2. 12

designates' a deflecting plate below the past I "which the-air must pass and 13 designates an air p'a'ssageextending'irom said deflector upward, the whole from the liquid.-

I 915 l I co'inmonlyfasten together the plates .5 and 6 so as ,to form a plurality of groups ofplates, .each comprising a number of plates convenientforhandling.

,Fig. 4,- which comprises a. series 0; cylinders alternately plain and corrugated nested one within the other; Numerals 14 designate'theplain cylinders and numerals 15 the corrugated cylinders. Aconvenient device for spraying the liquid in this form of appaiatus,.is 'an ordinary Barkers mill 16, the arms of which revolve owing to the reaction of the jets of liquid,and in revolving distribute the .liquid thoroughly.

It will be obvious that tlie apparatus above described of air. My apparatus is therefore equally suitable foruse as an air or gas cooler, and for use use liquid cooler or cooling tower as thela-tter apparatus iscommonly termed, v Heretofore various complicated and expensive constructions have been employed to provide'large surface area for the flow in intimate contact of the cooling liquid and air to be cooled, and-various expedients have been employed for spacing apart plates, both straight-and corrugated. 'Also metal cylinders have been nested one with another. But I believe I am the first to use- .in combination, flat or plain and corrugated 'platesarranged alternately as shown, whereby the corrugated plates space apart the plain-plates and are themselves spaced apart by said plain plates, and whereby practically the entire surface of both theplain and' con-u gated plates is available for the flow of cooling liquid. The various forms of apparatus above described are likewise suitable for use as humidifiers, that is, apparatus for increasing humidity of air or other gas to any desired extent. I intend "m apparatus as so used, to

be included in the following claims seeps? tion of a series of surfaces, alternately fiat and corru gated, means for flowing liquid over said surfaces and through the channels between the adjacent surfaces and means for passing gas through said channels.

3,. In cooling apparatus such as described, the combination with a tank having within it a perforate support, and

means below such-support for collecting liquid, of a series of surfacesalternately" plain and corrugated,.within said tank and resting ou-said support, means for flowing liquid over such surfaces and through the channels between-the adjacent surfaces, and gas circulating apparatus arranged to-pass gas through thesaid channels 4, In cooling apparatus such as'descrihed, the combination with a tank having within it's perforate support, and

means below such support for collecting-liquid, a series of surfaces, alternately plain and corrugated, within said tank and'restin'g on said support, means for flowing liquid :over such'surfacesland through the'channels between the adjacent plates; anda fan-connected with said tank below the said support andarranged to draw gas through the said channels. i

In'coqling apparatus such as described, the combine; 'tio'n 'ofa t'anlr' having within lta series ofsurfaces with .small channels therebetween for the flow of liquid and gas} and achamber below such surfaces for collecting the liquid said chamber having an extension to-one side. of

said 'series of surfaces, and provided with-means for drawing off the gas from such extension, and a deflecting plate between the main portion of said chamber and said exten slon adapted to effect separation of moisture from thegas by inertia action. 7 r o In testimony whereof I aifix my signature,v in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. STARR.

Witnesses H. M. MARBLE,

Jon: E. Barman. 

